In one aspect, this invention relates to an apparatus designed to vaporize volatile liquids. In another aspect, this invention relates to the use of an apparatus for vaporizing volatile liquids, in particular, liquids which are effective as antifoulants in reactors for thermal cracking of hydrocarbons.
A multiple, parallel packed column vaporizer for vaporizing volatile chemicals is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,924,936. This vaporizer requires external heating means surrounding the multiple columns. The vaporizer of the present invention is an advance in the art in that it comprises a single packed column and requires no external heating means surrounding the column. These features of the present invention result in reduced costs for manufacturing and operating the apparatus, as compared with the prior art vaporizer. The vaporizer of this invention is particularly useful for vaporizing organic tin compounds and other volatile compounds which are effective as antifoulants in thermal alkane (e.g., ethane cracking) reactors.